Chapter 44 Dom #2
I severely underestimated this man. I’m no Kratos, but I’m not tiny, either. Yet somehow, he still easily lifted me. My brain regains function, and I pull myself from his grasp, stumbling back to really look at him.
“What… What did you just say?” I demand because there’s no way I heard him correctly.
Right?
He smiles wider, something I wouldn’t have thought possible, as he steps toward me again.
This guy has no concept of boundaries.
“Your sister! Tell me you found Svetlana!”
His eyes are wild as he looks at me, damn near begging me to confirm his words.
Everything inside me urges me not to. Too many people already know about her, and if word got out to Ivan, it could ruin everything we’ve worked for.
So much of our plan rests on him not knowing we’ve found her, on him not knowing she’s a threat to him.
I watch him for a moment as he stands there wide-eyed and smiling.
He doesn’t look like someone who would tell Ivan, but can I take that chance?
Ivan’s reach is huge, something we discovered with Randall.
Even Leo used to be stuck under his thumb.
He might be on our side now, but it didn’t start that way.
We took a chance by trying to appeal to him, and it worked out for the best.
Shit.
I grit my teeth, looking at Leo. He isn’t much help as he stares at Aldo with about as much shock as I feel, but he also doesn’t appear on edge.
Nothing about Aldo screams danger, and if he cares about us finding her as much as he seems to right now, he could be a valuable asset. And we need all the help we can get.
“She goes by Jade now,” I murmur, unable to say it too loud, hoping and praying that I’m not betraying her further.
“I knew she was alive! I told your father that she would be! That little girl had too much spark for someone to put it out so easily.” He says, throwing his head back and laughing.
And now I’m lost. Leo shrugs when I turn to him to see if he’s following.
I hold up my hands, shaking my head, trying to make sense of what the fuck is going on.
“Okay, I’m going to need you to rewind and explain because I feel I’m missing more than one thing in this story, and every time you open your mouth, I’m only more lost,” I tell him, which makes him laugh louder.
He bends forward, bracing his hands on his knees as he continues to laugh, and my worry of how dangerous he might be slowly slips away, replaced with the concern that he’s fucking crazy.
“Yes, yes. Let’s start at the beginning,” he says, wiping at his eyes, and I realize he has tears rolling down his face. “Before we do that, though, I must make a phone call. Please excuse me for a moment,” he tells us, standing straight and pulling a phone from his pocket.
Leo’s on his feet and beside him in a flash, clearly understanding what is happening better than I am as my brain struggles to make sense of, well, everything right now.
“You’ll have to understand why that’s not going to happen,” Leo says, pressing the barrel of his gun to Aldo’s temple.
“Sì. Sì. I understand.”
Aldo holds up his hand that’s not gripping the phone in surrender, but doesn’t move to put the phone away.
“I’m happy to know she’s doing well and is protected, but you must also understand I’ve waited many, many years to make this phone call, and I won’t be delayed by anything or anyone.”
His words take on a deep grumble I hadn’t heard before, and I know this is the mafia man.
Whoever he was moments ago, whether real or not, was not a threat to us, but now.
.. I know better than to underestimate him.
I see Leo tense. Even with a gun to his head, I know he heard the threat in his words the same as I did.
“Now, boys, we can do this one of two ways. You can have a seat and let me make my call.” He holds up his hand to stop me from interrupting him as I step forward, and I see his eyes soften just the tiniest bit as he looks at me. “A call that I can promise you will not put Jade in harm's way.”
He turns to face Leo, putting the barrel of his gun smack in the middle of his forehead. “Or we can fight, waste all of your energy, and leave you both banged up. But either way, know I will make this phone call. The question is merely how you would like to proceed.”
Fuck!
He could be bluffing, but something tells me he’s not. So far, I haven't felt anything off with him. Not a hint of deception or malice, and as scared as I might be for him to make this call, I still feel like he’s telling the truth.
“Leo,” I bark, my voice hoarse with fear, but I have to trust my gut.
Leo's eyes dart toward me, wide in disbelief, as if I’m the one who’s lost my mind.
Honestly, I might have; there's only one way to know for sure.
I nod toward his chair before I take a step back and let myself fall back into my own, without taking my eyes off Aldo. Leo hesitates for a moment before he pulls his gun away and stuffs it back into its holster with more force than necessary.
If this doesn’t work out in our favor and Aldo doesn’t kill us, Leo will end me far before Jade has to.
I’m unsure if that's a blessing or not, but I try to find comfort in the fact that it wouldn’t be up to Jade to handle me if I’ve just put our entire mission in jeopardy.
I wouldn’t want her to have to be in that position.
With a shake of his head, Leo heads back toward his chair, snatching the bottle of vodka off the table before he collapses with it already pressed to his mouth.
Aldo watches Leo for a moment longer, as if he’s unsure if Leo will lunge again.
He has every right to be wary. I know Leo better than he does, and I can’t even say for sure what he will do most of the time.
He remains in the chair, drinking far more than he should be, but I keep that thought to myself.
At this point, I’m just going to be grateful that he listened at all and not push my luck further. I have to be running out of it by now.
Aldo briefly glances my way before he turns his attention to his phone.
A second later, he’s raising it to his ear, his smile returning once again.
The ringing echoes loud enough that I know he’s actually making a call, but when it stops, the voice on the other end isn’t loud enough for me to make out what they are saying.
“Принцесса”
One word is all he says before he ends the call and returns his phone to his pocket.
I’m not sure why I expected so much more.
The phone call was important to him, obviously, but one word seems like a lot to fight over.
Beyond that, though, was the choice of word and the fact that this very Italian man just spoke Russian as if it were second nature to him.
Russian isn’t an easy language; it’s harsh, and most of the time you can tell those who use it regularly and those who speak it as a second language.
Growing up, our house spoke in both Russian and English.
Hell, my father even taught us some Italian and Spanish just for business's sake. Even Elio’s English is still somewhat broken when he’s comfortable and not in a business setting.
I noticed it with Jade and Kratos a few weeks ago.
But Aldo seems to be able to switch from Italian to English without missing a beat, and apparently Russian as well.
What the fuck does he do that gives him such diversity?
“Your parents will be in Italy in about…” he pauses, looking down at his watch before counting on his fingers.
“Nine hours, so long as all goes well,” he tells me with a smile before walking toward the house.
Neither Leo nor I moves as he breezes past us. By the time he reaches the door to the hall, he realizes we haven’t followed him. Turning back, he waves us to him with a smile, all of his earlier intimidation gone.
“Come now. We don’t have time to waste if you want the whole backstory and to be ready. I’ve been waiting for this day, and I just need it to be perfect!”
One glance at Leo tells me he’s just as confused as I am, but for as strange as he is, everything seems to be working out so far. He not only can find my parents but will have them here in less than a day? He isn’t going to kill us and seems happy to help.
I came here in hopes of begging for assistance if I should have to, willing to put my life on the line if that’s what I had to do. Now, it seems as though everything is just going to work out.
That doesn’t happen, not in my life.
“If you two don’t move your asses, I’ll leave you here to drink and overthink, and you can try to piece everything together as we go,” he says, barking a laugh.
“Though I can almost guarantee you won’t get everything.
It’s quite a lot,” he says with a shrug before turning and walking out the door, leaving it open for us to follow.
Watching him disappear around the corner has me on my feet, with Leo not far behind. This might be our chance to get some answers, something we’ve all been chasing for a long ass time.
Aldo might give us whiplash with his moods, but if he can give me answers and my parents really are on their way, he might just be my new favorite person.